John Wells

Born: 1936-11-17

Wells started in cabaret at Oxford and began his television career as a writer on That Was The Week That Was, the 1960s weekly satire show that launched the careers of David Frost and Millicent Martin, among others, and also appeared in the television programme Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, as well as in The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Besides making cameo appearances in films such as Casino Royale (1967) and Rentadick (1972), television dramas like Casanova (1987), an episode of Lovejoy (1991) and comedy shows like Yes Minister, he also wrote television scripts and screenplays, such as Princess Caraboo (1994). In 1971, with John Fortune, he published the comedy classic A Melon for Ecstasy, about a man who consummates his love affair with a tree. Wells played the headmaster of Thursgood's Preparatory School in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979). Wells was one of the original contributors to the satirical magazine Private Eye and contributed to Mrs Wilson's Diary, the long-running spoof journal of the wife of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. From 1979 he repeated that success with Dear Bill, a series of letters (co-written with Richard Ingrams) supposedly sent by Denis Thatcher, husband of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to Bill Deedes. Wells developed the feature into a stage farce, Anyone for Denis?, first performed in 1981, in which he played Denis Thatcher. Co-starring Angela Thorne as Mrs. Thatcher, the play was a major West End hit, toured the UK and was adapted for television.He co-wrote Alice in Wonderland, a musical adaptation of Lewis Carrol’s novel with Carl Davis, which debuted at The Lyric Theatre in the West End, London.[3] Wells also played Denis Thatcher in the Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981). In 1991, he and Thorne again played the Thatchers in Dunrulin, a one-off TV sitcom-like satirical look at the couple in retirement.[4] He also voiced Arnold the Elephant, Edward the Monkey and Bert in the children's TV series Charlie Chalk. In 1988, Leonard Bernstein started working on a new version of his much-revised operetta Candide. The author of the original book, Hugh Wheeler, had died, and John Wells was asked to help revise the text.[5] The first production of this "final version", by Scottish Opera, was followed by a "final revised version" in 1989, performances of which have been released on CD and DVD. An insert in the DVD ("Bernstein and Voltaire"), written by Wells, explained what Bernstein had wanted in this final revised version. Wells authored Rude Words in 1991, a history of the London Library, for the institution's 150th anniversary. In 1997, Wells appeared in the BBC situation comedy Chalk as ineffectual headmaster Richard Nixon.[6] His fellow cast members do not recall him being ill on set, but he was too unwell to participate in the second series.[7] Wells' last book, House of Lords, was a best-seller and published a year before his death in 1998. The book is a historical and humorous study of the British peerage system.


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For Your Eyes Only

as Denis Thatcher, esposo de la Primera Ministra
Released: 1981-06-24

A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to...

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Casino Royale

as 'Q's' Assistant
Released: 1967-04-13

Sir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH. In order to trick SMERSH, James...

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Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

as Sir Evelyn Blount
Released: 1984-03-30

A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The...

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Revolution

as Corty
Released: 1985-12-25

New York trapper Tom Dobb becomes an unwilling participant in the American Revolution after his...

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Princess Caraboo

as Reverend Hunt
Released: 1994-09-16

Bristol, England, early 19th century. A beautiful young stranger who speaks a weird language is...

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The Bobo

as Pompadour Major Domo
Released: 1967-03-31

Unsuccessful singing bullfighter Juan arrives in Barcelona to try his luck in a big town. He...

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Every Home Should Have One

as Tolworth
Released: 1970-03-05

Teddy works for a large advertising company. Given the seemingly impossible task of selling...

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Rentadick

as Owltruss
Released: 1972-12-31

Armitage runs a chemical company that is on the verge of producing a gas that causes temporary...

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Dutch Girls

as Headmaster
Released: 1985-10-18

In this sophomoric comedy, a lusty adolescent British hockey team heads for Holland where they...

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Consuming Passions

as uncredited
Released: 1988-04-06

Adapted from a play written by two Monty Python vets, this toothy satire launches with a tragic...

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30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia!

as Honorable Gavin Hopton
Released: 1968-03-04

A 29-year old aspiring composer—still single and without any romantic prospects—vows to both...

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The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

as Self - Various Roles
Released: 1982-03-01

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the...

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Anyone for Denis

as Denis Thatcher
Released: 1982-12-28

Anyone for Denis? is a British video-taped television version of the stage play of the same name...

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Love's Labour's Lost

as Holofernes
Released: 1985-01-05

When the King of Navarre and three of his cronies swear to spend all their days in study and not...

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The Light Princess

as Bee (voice)
Released: 1978-12-24

Based on a short story by George MacDonald, a princess experiences constant weightlessness.

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Stones

as Porton
Released: 1976-10-27

From BBC2 Playhouse's The Mind Beyond series. Professor Reeve wonders about strange events that...

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Rumpole of the Bailey

as uncredited
First aired: 1975-12-17

Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer...

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Wogan

as Self
First aired: 1982-05-04

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable...

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The Kenny Everett Television Show

as The Ghost of Christmas Past
First aired: 1982-02-25

Sketch comedy show starring Kenny Everett.

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Have I Got News for You

as Himself
First aired: 1990-09-28

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories...

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BBC Television Shakespeare

as uncredited
First aired: 1978-12-03

The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of...

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Lovejoy

as Linden Walker
First aired: 1986-01-10

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East...

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Absolutely Fabulous

as Uncle Humphrey
First aired: 1992-11-12

Set in the world of fashion and PR, immature fun-loving mother Edina Monsoon and her best friend...

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100 Years of Warner Bros.

as Self
First aired: 2023-05-25

Tracing a century of movie and TV history, these four documentary specials explore the...

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Yes, Prime Minister

as uncredited
First aired: 1986-01-09

James Hacker MP the Government's bumbling minister for Administrative Affairs is propelled...

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

as uncredited
First aired: 1979-09-10

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is...

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Chalk

as Richard Nixon
First aired: 1997-02-20

A British television sitcom set in a comprehensive school named Galfast High. Two series written...

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Filthy Rich & Catflap

as Judge
First aired: 1987-01-07

Richie causes trouble in his pursuit of TV fame with Eddie, his alcoholic minder, and Filthy,...

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The Irish R.M.

as uncredited
First aired: 1983-01-06

The Irish R.M. refers to a series of books by the Anglo-Irish novelists Somerville and Ross, and...

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Charlie Chalk

as uncredited
First aired: 1988-10-20

Charlie Chalk is a stop motion animation series produced in 1987 in the United Kingdom by...

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Q...

as uncredited
First aired: 1969-03-24

Q... was a surreal television comedy sketch show from Spike Milligan which ran from 1969 to 1982...

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Anyone for Denis?

as Denis Thatcher
First aired: 1982-12-28

Anyone for Denis? is a British video-taped television version of the stage play of the same name...

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